Steam generator



Feb. 3, 1948. RElCHQLD 2,435,325

S TEAM GENERATOR Filed, Aug. 16, 1944 :ii uunmi LUDW/G RE/CHOLO IN VENTOR.

Patented Feb. 3, 1948 STEAM GENERATOR Ludwig Reichold, Winsted, Conn,assignor to The Silex Company, Hartford, Gonn.,a corporation ofConnecticut Application'August 16, 1944,,Serial No. 549,687

2 Claims.

This invention relates to steam generatorsand more particularly to aportable generatorof relatively small capacity capable of generatingsteam substantially instantaneously.

For variouspurposes steam. in relatively small quantities is employed,and a generator capable of producing steam or other vapors withoutheating a large body of liquid is desirable. Onesuch use is inconnection with pressing irons. In recent. years domestic electric ironshave been produced in which the iron is provided with a water containerand with means for heating the water to vaporize it. The steam soproduced is delivered through suitable channels in the pressing plate tothe material being pressed.

While the so-called steam iron is an improvement in domestic irons, itpossesses several disadvantages. The first is that the mounting of thewater container on the iron produces a bulky and cumbersome piece ofapparatus. Also in pressing some fabrics, it is desirable that the lastfew pressing strokes be made with a dry iron and when the watercontainer is mounted on the body of the iron in proximity to the heatinelement of the iron, it is impossible to discontinue the production ofsteam during the ironing operation.

It has been proposed to provide an iron with suitable channels for thedelivery of steam to the pressing plate and to connect such iron byflexible tubing to a steam generator mounted at a. convenient point.Such devices, however, have not been entirely satisfactory due to thefact that generators heretofore provided necessitated heating a largebody of water for the production of steam and therefore wereuneconomical and required considerable time for raising the body ofwater to the boiling point.

In the present invention Iprovide a generator which may be mounted onthe ironing boardv or at any other convenient'point and is adapted to beused in connection with an iron having channels by means of which steammay be delivered to the ironing surface of the pressing plate. Thegenerator preferably consists of a container of suitable size for thewater to be vaporized in which is mounted a heating coilcarried by afloat. The float is adapted to retain the heating coil justbeneath thesurface of the body of water. In this manner the heating is confined tothat portion of the water immediately below the surface. This results inthe production of steam almost instantaneously when the generator isturned on and also produces economy in operation in that only a smallportion of the water is heated, the conduction of heat throughthe bodyof water beneath the heating coil being relatively small.

While generators of this type for various purposes have heretofore beenproposed, the generator of the present invention comprises certainimprovements in the construction and arrangement ofv the float and inthe means for automatically cutting off the supply of current when the.water supply is depleted which make a device of this character practicaland useful. While the present description is primarily directed to theuse of the generator in connection with an electric iron, it maybe usedfor many other purposes, suchas for humidifying rooms, generatingv steamfor small sterilizers, and generating vapors. in medicaitreatments. Alsowhile the description is directedprimarily to the vaporization of water,it will of course be apparent that theinvention maybe employed inconnection with the generation of vapors of any liquid.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown one embodiment of theinvention. In this showin Fig. 1 isa horizontal, sectional view;

. Fig. 2.is a vertical, sectional view; and

Fig. 3 is-a detailed view of theautomatic cutoff switch. showing theswitch in open position.

'Referringtothe drawing, the reference numeral I designates generally asuitable container for the water or other liquid to be vaporized. Thiscontainer may be of any desired size and shape and is shown as asubstantially cylindrical container comprising a bottom 2, side walls 3anda top 4 integral with .the sidewalls. The. bottom maybeprovided witha flange 5 to be connected to a flange 6 on. the-lower edge of the sidewall by suitable. fastening means I, and a strip 8, of packingmay bearranged between the bottom and the sidewall. When thecontainer is usedfor supplying steamtoan iron and is. mounted on the ironing board, itmay be connected to a supply tank (not shown) by a pipe 9, the levelofthe supply tank being such that when liquid is contained therein, itwill maintain the same water level as the water or liquid in the.generator as indicated at ID in Fig. 2 of the drawing. When employed forother uses, the pipe 9 may be eliminated and the container filledthrough an inlet opening arranged adjacent the top and provided with aclosure plug l2. A steam outlet 13 is provided in the top and is adaptedto be connected by flexible tubing, such as a'rubber hose, to an iron,sterilizer or other equipment with which the generator is used. Thegenerator maybeprovided with a safety valve 14 and may also be providedwith a suitable gauge Ma in the side wall to permit ready determinationof the liquid level'in the generator. The top, of course. may beremovable or, when the generatorisused for vaporizing liquids forhumidifying rooms, the top may be open.

' A float I5 is mounted in the container I, the float being preferablyformed of sheet metal and being hollow to float on the body of liquid. Aplurality of arms or straps l8 extend outwardly from the float and areprovided with opening I! to receive guide rods 18 which are mounted inthe container and guide the float in its vertical movement. A heatingcoil l 9 of electric resistance wire is mounted upon a suitable support20 and the support and the heating coil are supported in openings ininsulated lugs 2i mounted on the float. One end 22 of the heating coilis connected to a terminal 23 mounted on one of the arms or straps l6and extending a considerable distance beneath the float. The other end24 of the heating coil is connected to aterminal 25 mounted upon thesame strap. A mercury switch 26 is mounted on the under side of thefloat. As shown, one element 2'! of a hinge is secured to the bottom ofthe float and the second element 28 is secured to the flat upper surfaceof the switch. Pins 29 connect the two elements of the hinge and permitthe mercury switch to swing about the hinge as a pivot. The lower sidesof the mercury switch are inclined downwardly from the outer edge to thecenter as indicated at 30 and a quantity of mercury 31 is mounted in theswitch.

The term nal 25 is connected to the switch by a lead wire 32, the end ofthis wire being secured to one of the contact elements 33. A secondcontact element 34 is connected to a terminal 35. mounted on another oneof the arms or straps l by wire 36. As shown in Fig. 2, the ends ofcontact elements 33 and 34 are slightly spaced from each other.Terminals 23 and 35 are connected to ribbon-like electrical connectors36 and 31, which are in turn connected to terminals 38 and 39 in thebottom of the container.

The operation of the device will be apparent from the foregoingdescription. A desired liquid level is maintained in the container bydelivery of water through pipe 9 or by filling the container thoughinlet opening H. The float assumes a position adjacent the upper surfaceof the water and when the terminals 38 and 39 are connected to a sourceof current, the heating coil i 9 causes generation of steam in theportion of the .water adjacent the top of the body of water in thecontainer. It will be noted that the construction permits the use of anopen coil directly exposed to the water. As the coil is beneath thesurface of the water at all times, it is not subject to excessiveoxidation as would be the case if it were exposed to air. Thearrangement of the heating coil just beneath the surface of the body ofwater confines the heating operation to a small quantity of water sothat steam is formed without heating a large body of water. This notonly results in economy of operation, but also results in substantiallyinstantaneous production of steam which is an important advantage whenthe device is used in connection with a pressing iron or in similar useswhere a small amount of steam is frequently desired without the delay ofheating the entire body of water. Also the use of the device inconnection with a steam iron permits the steam to be cut off at any timeas in the last few strokes of ironing because the steam generation willcease substantially immediately when the current is turned ofi.

Current; flows from the terminal 38 through the ribbon-like connector 36to terminal 23, wire 22, through the heating coil [9, wire 24, terminal25, wire 32, mercury switch 26, wire 36, terminal 35,

ribbon-like connector 31 to terminal 39. This current path is maintainedas long as the mercury switch is in a horizontal position with theterminals 33 and 34 of the switch connected by the mercury 3|. Toprevent operation of the device when the water supply is exhausted, apost 40 is mounted in the bottom of the container, off center, at a,point to engage the mercury switch when the float lowers and tilt it asshown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. As will be apparent from Fig. 3 of thedrawing, this moves the body of mercury 3| away from the ends of theswitch terminals 33 and 34 and therefore disconnects the coil from thesource of current. Likewise, if the container I is moved into anyposition other than its normal position, as when the container ismounted on an ironing board and the ironing board stored between uses,the mercury switch 26 will disconnect the coil from the source ofcurrent and prevent the circuit to the coil from being accidentally leftclosed. The bottom of the container may be provided with a suitablevalved outlet 4! for draining.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising a container, aplurality of vertically disposed rods mounted in the container andforming guides, a float mounted in the container, radially disposed armsextending from the float, the arms being provided with openings toreceive the guides, a plurality of lugs mounted on the float, a heatingcoil supported by the lugs and exposed to a body of liquid in thecontainer adjacent the upper surface thereof, a mercury switch hingedlymounted on the bottom of the float and connected in series with theheating coil, and a post mounted on the bottom of the container to tiltthe mercury switch and disconnect the coil from the source of current asthe float is lowered in the container to bring the switch intoengagement with the post.

2. A device of the character described comprising a container, a floatmounted in the container, a heating element surrounding the floatadjacent the top thereof and carried thereby, means for connecting theheating element to a source of current, guiding members projecting fromthe float, means in the top of the container co-operating with theguiding members to guide the float vertically in the container, amercury switch mounted on the bottom of the float and arranged in serieswith the heating element, and means in the container to actuate themercury switch when the liquid level in the container falls to apredetermined point.

LUDWIG REICHOLD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

